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ButYouDisagree on
A Socratic dialogue with my student ·
2023-12-07T21:01:11.003Z ·
LW ·
GW
It takes $10,000,000 for the US government to save an Amerian life.
I'm pretty sure the right number is much, much lower. For example:
- Sommers 2016 found that Medicaid expansion saved a life for ~$600k
- Barro 2022 found that COVID vaccines saved a life for $55k
- The EPA estimates that the Clean Air Act saved a life for $280k
I take it your $10m number is from Value of a Statistical Life. But VSL measures typical willingness to pay to avert risk to one's own life. The best-targeted interventions will be much cheaper.